Kelly Clarkson, Adele Songs Removed From SoundCloud, Sony Says There’s Not Enough Money In it
Kelly Clarkson and Adele songs appear to be part of the big entertainment battle of the day. After Sony realized they allegedly weren’t making enough money from SoundCloud, the music label took several artists’ work off the service.
This is similar to what Taylor Swift did with Spotify and other streaming services shortly after the launch of her 1989 album, as previously reported by the Inquisitr. She felt she could make more money by eliminating her songs from the array of music and making people pay for a CD or MP3.
While this might make sense in the business world, it doesn’t explain how Swift plans to stop piracy altogether. Sony Music may be facing the same hurdle after taking down songs from its artists such as those mentioned above, as well as songs by Miguel and Leon Bridges.
The removal of six musical artists was the result of a breakdown in negotiations, with Sony claiming “a lack of monetization opportunities” with the streaming service.
Sony pulls music from SoundCloud because it wants to make more money http://t.co/8jQkhkrGoq pic.twitter.com/oaYcN5Ccmh
— The Verge (@verge) May 6, 2015
Further fueling this negotiation scuffle is the fact that until recently, the streaming service was completely free. In a bit of irony, the service actually helped launch the career of Leon Bridges, one of Sony’s artists being pulled, and helped give Beyonce, Miguel, and Drake exposure for new material.
Sony just doesn’t see enough money being made from Kelly Clarkson songs, or those of Adele and Miguel, by leaving them on SoundCloud.
One artist’s management has opined that Sony is doing the right thing, because “artists and labels need to get paid for music. Until that can be worked out, we’re going to have situations that are incompatible with artist development.”
A SoundCloud spokesperson told Billboard their side of the story behind Sony pulling Kelly Clarkson songs as well as others.
“We are in ongoing conversations with major and independent labels and will continue to add partners to the program. We’ve always put control in the hands of creators, and anyone who makes music and audio can decide when and how they want to share it with fans, allowing artists to essentially broadcast out to the world the availability of new content.”
Do you think Sony Music is doing the right thing for musicians such as Leon Bridges who found their break through streaming services? Will you miss songs from Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Miguel, and other Sony artists on SoundCloud?
As Taylor Swift fans could tell you, there is always the preview button on services like Amazon and YouTube videos.
[Image via Christopher Polk / Getty Images, Kevin Winter / Getty Images]
